Stevie "Y" was one of my Captains, and a damned good one, so I'm not going to be as harsh as some on him for selling out & 'going establishment'. I'm blaming it on Goodell and the NFL's new stance on "player safety". I suppose we all knew it was coming, .

It does sound strange coming from a guy who played his entire career in a RedWing sweater though, protected by the likes of Tiger Williams, Joey Kocur, Bob Probert, Darren McCarty, Chris Chelios, Brendan Shanahan, Vladimer Kostantinov and various other RedWing roughnecks ... and in a sport that built it's identity largely on fighting.

Never mind it will, in all probability, result in an increase of the stickwork on the ice as the means for players to "police their own" is removed. Who's gonna' stop 'em from taking a run at your superstar late in the third period as well? IDK, it's a violent sport ... how do you go crashing into the boards with an opponent at 30mph and not want to kick some ass? How do you take a face wash without punching someone? Or a slash? Or an elbow?

It's the nature of the sport, IMO ... just sayin', .

Originally Posted by Jason Brough - ProHockeyTalk

Hockey Hall of Famer and Tampa Bay Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman believes it’s time for the NHL to take dramatic action to cut down on fighting.

“Yes, I believe a player should get a game misconduct for fighting,” Yzerman told The Dreger Report. “We penalize and suspend players for making contact with the head while checking, in an effort to reduce head injuries, yet we still allow fighting.

“We’re stuck in the middle and need to decide what kind of sport do we want to be. Either anything goes and we accept the consequences, or take the next step and eliminate fighting.”

Yzerman isn’t alone among his league counterparts either. “We’ve got to get rid of fighting,” Hurricanes GM Jim Rutherford said. “It has to go.”

Penguins GM Ray Shero also thinks the NHL needs to consider a ban.

It will be extremely interesting to see if the general managers get together soon to debate fighting. They did that back in 2009, eventually proposing a 10-minute misconduct for players who drop their gloves immediately after a faceoff as a ways to cut down on staged fights. The NHLPA blocked that proposal, however.